Iowa battleship and magnetic torpedoes

[muser]

I run GWX3 and have never run across an Iowa class battleship in the game, so decided to set up a single "test" mission with a IXD2 and a few Iowa class ships sitting dead in the water out in the mid-Atlantic. Basically a "turkey shoot."

Impact torpedoes worked as expected, though it took me four or more to do the job -- no problem with that. Magnetic torpedoes, on the other hand, failed miserably. Although I fired dozens, not one detonated. The draught of the Iowa is stated to be 13.6m and so I set my torpedo depth to 14.5m. The torps passed just under the hull with no problem, and right on out the other side without detonating. Eventually, I tried varying the torpedo depths from 14.0m - 15.5m but the results were the same.

Except for the occasional dud torpedo, I've never before encountered a vessel, in the game, that would consistently allow a properly set up magnetic torp to pass unaffected below the keel. Does the Iowa class come from the famous GWX factory equipped with some sort of massive degaussing system? (Just kidding). Or, is my system somehow kaput? Has anyone else encountered this problem with the Iowa class vessels?

(Just so you know, I added several other vessels to my "turkey shoot" scenario, and they all responded appropriately to my magnetic torpedoes. So my prolem appears to be with just the Iowa class vessels.)

[Rammstein0991]

COULD be a mod bug, but part of it is no doubt that magnetic torps are finicky which is why U boat captains generally didnt like using them, the magnetic detonator had a nasty habit of failing and so they generally stuck to impact detonators for the most part.

[maillemaker]

In game, I have never seen a magnetic torpedo fail to detonate due to magnetic influence.

The typical "failure" of mag torps in game is that they prematurely detonate. But this almost never happens inside of 1000m.

Steve

[Tonnage_Ace]

It could depend on the type you were using (I, II, III)
I've had good results with type III's but I stay away from type II's

[Aktungbby]

[QUOTE]Impact torpedoes worked as expected, though it took me four or more to do the job -- no problem with that. Magnetic torpedoes, on the other hand, failed miserably. Although I fired dozens, not one detonated. The draught of the Iowa is stated to be 13.6m and so I set my torpedo depth to 14.5m. The torps passed just under the hull with no problem, and right on out the other side without detonating. Eventually, I tried varying the torpedo depths from 14.0m - 15.5m but the results were the same.[QUOTE/]
The info I googled says Iowa's draft is 37'2" or 11.33 meters; in two extensive detailed sites; Got see her every day at the Suisun Ghost Fleet and watched her (sadly )as she was towed out to her new home in Southern CA from the upper parapet of old Ft Point directly under the Golden Gate Bridge. It was quite a sight. Set your eels for 9-10 meters and quit worrying about it. Draft: 36 ft (11 m) maximum Installed power: 212,000 shp (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horsepower#Shaft_horsepower) (158,000 kW)
8 water-tube boilers (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water-tube_boiler) Speed: 31 knots (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knot_(unit)) (57 km/h; 36 mph) Range: 14,890 miles (23,960 km) @ 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph) Complement: ~2,700 officers and men (WWII, Korea):Kaleun_Salute:

[muser]

I think Rammstein0991 was on the right track with his mod bug suggestion. I run GWX3 without external mods, so probably not really a mod problem, but it got me thinking I might have a corrupted file somewhere. So, I did a complete reinstall and the problem seems to have gone away.

Thanks so much to all of you who took the time to reply. I really appreciate it. Without a doubt, this is one of the most helpful forums I have come across.

P.S.

Hey Aktungbby, very cool you got up close with the Iowa at Suisun Bay. Back in the 70's they had her sistership, Missouri, up in Bremerton, WA on Puget Sound. I lived in Tacoma at the time, and got aboard "Mighty Mo" a few times as she was open to the public in those days. She's docked at Pearl Harbor now.

[maillemaker]

I've had good results with type III's but I stay away from type II's

Again, the only in-game malfunction I've seen with Type IIs is that after 1000m they have a good chance of pre-detonation.

Inside of 1000m they are as reliable as any other kind of torpedo.

Still susceptible to being duds if you have that option turned on.

Steve

[Tonnage_Ace]

Inside of 1000m they are as reliable as any other kind of torpedo.

Still susceptible to being duds if you have that option turned on.

Steve

With this in mind, why not just use a Type I set at 44 knots?

[maillemaker]

With this in mind, why not just use a Type I set at 44 knots?

When I'm forced to use Type I torpedoes, that is generally exactly what I do.

I only load steamers in my external stores, as was historically correct. So when I pull in the steamers, I generally use them at their highest speed settings. I always try to shoot at under 1000m, and at their highest speed settings it gives the target virtually no time to react nor does the sight picture change much from when you fire to when impact occurs.

My only exception to this is late 1943 early 1944 in any sub but the Type XXI.

At this time it is no longer feasible to infiltrate convoys and shoot from inside at close range, except maybe in very rough seas. Otherwise the escorts will find you and you have a very low possibility of escape once there are 5, 6 or even more escorts circling you.

In this case I use FAT steamers at low speed (for long range) as standoff weapons. Then you can fire at a convoy from 5000m or so away and submerge deep and turn away silent and stand a chance of never being detected in the first place.

Of course the down side here is that from that range you have to have a dead-accurate speed estimation to have a chance at a hit. More often than not I either miss or hit something other than I was aiming at. FAT capability is very very useful in this case. It's more like shotgun shooting than precision shooting at this stage of the war.

Steve